Contemporary New Cultural Formations and Regulator

Contemporary New Cultural Formations and Regulator

There has been a strong link between the youth culture and popular music since the Elvis Presley and the Beatles transformed the world of Music. The new cultural formation in popular music today sees a growth of music forms that allow the disenfranchised such as street kids, the Negro and the poor to express themselves. These new forms of expression, rap music and hip-hop, occurred initially on the fringes but have now become part of the popular music scene. More and more young people are using the new digital technological advances to create music themselves outside of the traditional commercial channels. At a time of elections in Australia, the youth culture has received very little attention. Traditionally, governments have avoided an association with the fringe element of popular music. At present, this lack of support is seeing the Australian music industry becoming dominated by American artists. Youth radio stations such as Triple JJJ struggle to remain viable and yet are central to the support of youth culture. It is important that governments support the development of local youth culture due to the impact that globalisation has on the Americanisation of the popular music scene. This essay will discuss these issues.

Australian society is an aging society where the majority of people are becoming over the age of 65. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004), ¡§in 2002, people aged 65 years and over comprised 13% of Australia's population. By 2101, they are projected to comprise between 29% and 32% of the population¡¨. This has meant that the government has focused their attention on the needs of this group and their cultural interests such as the opera, orchestra and theatre. This has had the effect of marginalizing the youth culture. Young people make up the largest percentage of unemployment. 38% of all the people unemployed are aged between 15 to 24 (Spierings, 2004). and are often faced with a life time of...

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